The world's power demands are expected to rise 60% by 2030 (World Energy Outlook, Paris IEA, 2004-10-26 pp. 31). The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that fossil fuels will account for 85% of the energy market by 2030. In fossil fuel power plants the chemical energy stored in fossil fuels (for example, coal, fuel oil, natural gas and oil shale) and oxygen from air is converted successively into thermal energy, mechanical energy and, finally, electrical energy for continuous use and distribution. Most thermal power generating stations in the world use fossil fuel, outnumbering nuclear, geothermal, biomass and solar thermal plants.
Natural gas, which is predominantly methane, is widely used in many industries both as a feedstock for chemical synthesis and as a major source of electricity generation through the use of gas and steam turbines. Natural gas burns cleaner than other fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, and produces less greenhouse gas per unit energy released. Power generation using natural gas is thus the cleanest fossil fuel source of energy available and this technology is used wherever competitive. Compressed natural gas is also used as a clean alternative for automobile fuels.
Natural gas can be used to produce hydrogen through carbon dioxide reforming and water gas shift reactions. Hydrogen has various applications, for example, it is a primary feed stock for the chemical industry, a hydrogenating agent and a fuel source in hydrogen based-fuel cells, for example in hydrogen vehicles.
The increasing price of natural gas, along with diminishing domestic supply, creates incentive for other sources of this fuel. Gasification of fossil fuels, for example coal, is one option, however, most commercially ready coal gasifiers are predominantly designed to produce syngas that is high in carbon monoxide and hydrogen while minimizing the methane content.
Existing methods of destroying organic waste material are usually accomplished using high temperature incineration. These incinerators are very capital intensive, and therefore require large installations, which increase public concern. They are also expensive to operate and have exhibited a history of blow-backs or explosions caused during loading of the hazardous materials.
The following are a group of patents related to commercial attempts at gasification and steam reforming:    TSANGARIS, Andreas, and Marc BACON, PCT patent application no. WO 2008/138118;    TSANGARIS, Andreas, and Marc BACON, PCT patent application no. WO 2008/138117;    TSANGARIS, Andreas, and Margaret SWAIN, PCT patent application no. WO/2008/117119;    TSANGARIS, Andreas, and Marc BACON, PCT patent application no. WO 2008/104088;    TSANGARIS, Andreas, and Marc BACON, PCT patent application no. WO 2008/104058;    TSANGARIS, Andreas, Margaret SWAIN, Kenneth Craig CAMPBELL, Douglas Michael FEASBY, Thomas Edward WAGLER, Scott Douglas BASHAM, Mao Pei CUI, Zhiyuan SHEN, Ashish CHOTALIYA, Nipun SONI, Alisdair Alan MCLEAN, Geoffrey DOBBS, Pascale Bonnie MARCEAU, and Xiaoping ZOU. PCT patent application no. WO/2008/011213;    TSANGARIS, Andreas, and Margaret SWAIN, PCT patent application no. WO 2007/143673;    TSANGARIS, Andreas, Margaret SWAIN, Kenneth Craig CAMPBELL, Douglas Michael FEASBY, Thomas Edward WAGLER, Scott, Douglas BASHAM, Zhiyuan SHEN, Geoffrey DOBBS, Mao Pei CUI, and Alisdair Alan MCLEAN, PCT patent application no. WO/2007/131241;    TSANGARIS, Andreas, Margaret SWAIN, Douglas Michael FEASBY, Scott Douglas BASHAM, Ashish CHOTALIYA, and Pascale Bonnie MARCEAU, PCT patent application no. WO 2007/131240;    TSANGARIS, Andreas, Margaret SWAIN, Kenneth Craig CAMPBELL, Douglas Michael FEASBY, Thomas Edward WAGLER, Xiaoping ZOU, Alisdair Alan MCLEAN, and Pascale Bonnie MARCEAU, PCT patent application no. WO 2007/131239;    TSANGARIS, Andreas, Margaret SWAIN, Douglas Michael FEASBY, Scott Douglas BASHAM, Nipun SONI, and Pascale Bonnie MARCEAU, PCT patent application no. WO 2007/131236;    TSANGARIS, Andreas, Margaret SWAIN, Kenneth Craig CAMPBELL, Douglas Michael FEASBY, Scott Douglas BASHAM, Alisdair Alan McLEAN, and Pascale Bonnie MARCEAU, PCT patent application no. WO 2007/131235;    TSANGARIS, Andreas and Margaret SWAIN. PCT patent application no. WO 2007/131234;    TSANGARIS, Andreas, Kenneth C. CAMPBELL, and Michael D. FEASBY and Ke LI, PCT patent application no. WO 2006/128286;    TSANGARIS, Andreas, Kenneth C. CAMPBELL, Michael D. FEASBY, and Ke LI, PCT patent application no. WO 2006/128285;    TSANGARIS, Andreas V., and Kenneth C. CAMPBELL; PCT patent application no. WO 2006/081661;    TSANGARIS, Andreas V., George W. CARTER, Jesse Z., SHEN, Michael D. FEASBY, and Kenneth C. CAMPBELL, PCT patent application no. WO 2004/072547;    ZWIERSCHKE, Jayson, and Ernest George DUECK, PCT patent application no. WO/2006/076801;    SHETH, Atul C. PCT patent application no. WO/2007/143376.
The following are other patents related to hazardous waste destruction:    Abdullah, Shahid. Method for Degradation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Soil. U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,472;    Almeida, Fernando Carvalho. U.S. Pat. No. 6,767,163;    Anderson, Perry D., Bhuvan C. Pant, Zhendi Wang, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,429;    Baghel, Sunita S., and Deborah A. Haitko. U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,736;    Balko, Edward N., Jeffrey B. Hoke, and Gary A. Gramiccioni. U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,268;    Batchelor, Bill, Alison Marie Hapka, Godwin Joseph Igwe, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,789,649;    Bender, Jim. U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,335;    Boles, Jeffrey L., Johnny R. Gamble, and Laura Lackey. U.S. Pat. No. 6,599,423.    Bolsing, Friedrich, and Achim Habekost. Process for the Reductive Dehalogenation of Halogenated Hydrocarbons. U.S. Pat. No. 6,649,044;    Cutshall, Eule R., Gregory Felling, Sheila D. Scott, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,823;    Dellinger, Harold Barrett, and John L. Graham. U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,549;    Driemel, Klaus, Joachim Wolf, and Wolfgang Schwarz. Process for Nonpolluting Destruction of Polychlorinated Waste Materials. U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,155;    Farcasiu, Malvina, and Steven C. Petrosius. U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,214;    Friedman, Arthur J., and Yuval Halpern. U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,432;    Ginosar, Daniel M., Robert V. Fox, and Stuart K. Janikowski. U.S. Pat. No. 6,984,768;    Gonzalez, Luciano A., Henry E. Kowalyk, and Blair F. Sim. U.S. Pat. No. 6,414,212;    Gonzalez, Luciano A., Dennis F. Mullins, W. John Janis, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,380,454;    Greenberg, Richard S., and Thomas Andrews. U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,328;    Levin, George B. U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,298;    U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,638;    Newman, Gerard K., Jeffrey H. Harwell, and Lance Lobban. U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,856;    Potter, Raleigh Wayne, and Michael Fitzgerald. U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,029;    U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,675;    Quimby, Jay M. U.S. Statutory Invention Registration H2198H;    Reagen, William Kevin, and Stuart Kevin Janikowski. U.S. Pat. No. 5,994,604;    Rickard, Robert S. U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,578;    Ruddick, John N. R., and Futong Cui. U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,829;    Schulz, Helmut W. U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,113;    Sparks, Kevin A., and James E. Johnston. U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,732; and    Zachariah, Michael R., and Douglas P. DuFaux. U.S. Pat. No. 593,613.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,511 to Hallett describes the treatment of organic material by use of a process which combines a gas phase chemical reduction in a reducing atmosphere at a high temperature above about 600° C., preferably above 875° C., and thereafter, subjecting said material to chemical oxidation with a gaseous oxidizing agent at a temperature above about 1000° C. However, this process results in the production of a tarry material, which can result in the process being halted to remove the tarry material.